APUSH Unit 1 Key Terms Questions with well explained answers

Native Americans - Answer-1. original Americans 2. migrated to America via Siberian Land Bridge during ice age (following megafuana and fish) 3. mostly of Mongolian (?) descent Land Bridge - Answer-1. span of land connecting Siberia to North America during the ice age 2. allowed "Native" Americans to migrate to Americas Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) - Answer-1. created by the pope 2. gave all American land, except Brazil, to Spain (Brazil was claimed by Portugal) Hernando Cortés - Answer-1. Spanish conquistador 2. 1518- led small military expedition against Aztecs... lost, but exposed them to smallpox -won with second attempt 3. considered one of the most brutal conquistadors Christopher Columbus - Answer-Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China () Aztec - Answer-- major city: Tenochtitlán - in Mexico - succeeded Mayans - elaborate administrative, education, and medical systems; harsh religion Inca - Answer-- major cities: Cuzco and Machu Pichu - in Peru - complex government; paved road system; bridges spanning HUGE gapsMaya - Answer-- major cities: Mayapan - Central America and Yucatan Peninsula - sophisticated culture, written language, numerical system, accurate calendar, advanced agricultural system Conquistadors - Answer-Spanish conquerors (see also: Francisco Pizarro, Hernando Cortes) Fransisco Pizarro - Answer-1. Spanish conqueror 2. conquered Incans in 1538 St. Augustine, Florida - Answer-Spanish fort founded 1565 Encomiendas - Answer-1. legal system employed by Spanish in America 2. granted a specific number of natives to each Spanish citizen Maize - Answer-corn Mestizos - Answer-1. part Spanish, part Native 2. not accepted by either group Mercantilism - Answer-"economics of empire building" - basis for creation of colonies and how mother country treated them - colonies exist to give raw materials to mother country and buy manufactured goods back